I have over 100 photos on my phone of my gorgeous yellow/gold Hibiscus flower with a magenta centre. For my garden lovers, I recently found out it's called a Golden Oriole. It seems to change colour every season. In late summer it is a bright yellow and in winter it turns gold. It's such a happy, tropical blossom and reminds me of my two trips to Rarotonga. One of which I was proposed too!
Even though I had been thinking about painting it for a long time, it wasn't the first flower that come to mind when I was asked to plan a painting for the Emerging Artist Workshops. If you haven't been following my journey for long, I am very blessed to be a finalist for the Emerging Artist Award, in association with Bay of Plenty Garden and Art Festival.
A week out from the first workshop, here I am sitting on the carpet with Mila my 21-month-old, playing DUPLO when I notice the sun casting interesting shadows from the pieces.
I decide I need to try this with a flower. I jump up and head out to my beautiful yellow hibiscus, pick a flower and lay it on a white sheet of paper. I pull it apart to see the details and to discover what the petal shadows look like. Instantly, I'm drawn to the interesting shapes, and the reflected golden glow. It isn't until I look at the photos later that I notice the faces in the shadows! What an amazing surprise. An idea to the meaning behind the piece came so naturally and feels so right!